Somalia: Police seize over 140 mortars in the capital, Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Police in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, have seized over 140 mortars, following an operation within Banadir District, targeting hideouts of the Al-Shabaab militants, a group which has wreaked havoc in the country and neighbourhoods.

Al-Shabaab is fighting to control the fragile UN-backed federal government of Somalia, which has struggled with instability for over three decades, even with deliberate attempts to foster stability in the region, through international community missions.

Police spokesperson Kasim Ahmed said the militants had launched two attacks in the capital using mortars, despite security surveillance led by the Somali Police team and military teams from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).

The militants were behind the fire that raged in Mogadishu's largest open market, Bakara, which left property worth millions of dollars badly destroyed. The fire was triggered by an abandoned mortar, police said.

“The fire that erupted in the Bakara Market this morning was caused by an explosive device planted by the terrorists in a garbage dump," Kassim Ahmed added, noting that the crackdown will continue to the unforeseeable future.

The security teams have been combing the rather peaceful capital, which is enjoying relative stability and decades of war. The Somalia capital has opened up to international investors after the Al-Shabaab was pushed out to remote areas within the country.

Elsewhere, three Al-Shabaab terrorists were eliminated in a joint operation by the Somali National Army and US allies in LowerShabelle on March 9th, state media reports. The US army has been working closely with local forces in pursuit of Alshabaab militants who control large swathes of rural central and southern regions.

In Jubaland, the US Africa Command along with the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) have activated operations that could extend to cast lands in Southwest stags in the federal republic of Somalia. The operation is geared towards eliminating Al-Shabaab.

GAROWE ONLINE